James b



( o Model.) I

J. B. BRAY.

GARBRAKE. No. 858,88 Patented Apr. 18,1882. 8

.8 Y i F? t INVBNTOR I ATTORNEYS.

Uivi'rm) STATES PATENT ()FFICEQ JAMES B. BRAY, or WAVERLY, NEW YORK.

CAR-B RAKE.

' SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 256,635, dated April18, 1882.

Application filed January 25, 1882.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JAMES B. BRAY, ofWaverly, in the county of Tioga and State of New York, have inventedancwand Improved iica-tion, in which- Figure l is a vertical longitudinalsection of a car and the rear portion ofthe tender. Fig. 2 is a rear endview of the tender. Fig. 3 is a detail, showing a modified arrangementof spring for applying the brakes.

My invention relates to an improvement in car-brakes of that generalform in which all the brakes ot' the train are applied from thelocomotive by means of a steanrpiston acting.

upon a buffer, which abuts against a corresponding bufi'er of theadjacent car, and each of which cars is provided with a continuousbuffer-rod extending the whole length of the car, and terminating ateach end in heads that act upon the adjacent buft'ers of the next car,so that all of the brakes are simultaneously applied from the samepoint.

My improvement in this general form of brake consists in running shortstiff bufferrods through the trucks at each end of the car andconnecting these short buffer-rods directly to the brake-beams bysprings, then joining the two inner ends of the short buffer-rods toform a continuous connection by means ot'a traction rod running fromtruck to truck of the car, which traction-rod is at each outer endconnected to the inner ends of the buffer-rods through a lever, all ashereinafter more fully described.

In the drawings, A represents one of the cars of the train, and Brepresents the locomotive or tender, upon which is located a buffer-rod,O, that is projected to the rear (when the brakes are to be applied) bymeans of a steam piston on the end of the same fitting within a cylinderwhose inlet-valves for steam are under the control of the engineer. Eachof the cars of the train is fitted with the same appliance, which Iwillnow proceed to de-' scribe.

D D are short stiff tinder-rods passing (No model.)

through the trucks at each end of the car, and made stout enough toresist bending or doubling up under the compressive strain to which theyare subjected. These buffer-rods are provided with buffer-heads at theirouter ends to receive the impact of the adjacent buffers, and

the-power applied to them is transmitted directly to the brake-beams E EE E through the medium of springs F F F F, interposed betweenguide-plates on the brake-beams, and

a rigid collar, or, on each of the buffer-rods.

Now, it will be seen that if both the bufferrods were one and the same,extending the full length of the car, the strain on it being acompressive strain, it would be certain to spring or double or bend upunless it were made so heavy as to be impracticable. I thereforediscontinue the stout buffer-rods between the trucks and connect them bylevers G G and a relatively small traction-rod, H. These .70

levers I fulcrum upon abar, I, extending from the truck-frame, and theyserve to change the character of the strain between the bufferrodsproper from a compressive strain into a tensile strain or traction,which permits me'to '75 use very light iron between the two bufferrodsand still connect the latter by a practically continuous connection,which causes the driving in of one buffer-head to effect a protrusion ofthe other or rear buffer-head of the 30 same car, and this, transmits asimilar effect to-the next car in the rear.

Now, it will be seen when the cars are moving in the direction indicatedbythe arrow 00 and a strain from the locomotive-buffer is broughtagainst the front buffer of the next car the front buffer-rod moves tothe remand applies, through its collara and the spring F, a strain uponthe rear brake-beam,E, of the front truck; and the movement being transothe opposite direction and the buffer-rods are projected in the oppositedirection, then their collars a act through the other springs, F F, andthe otherbrake-beams,E E, are applied.

The object of' the springs .F F is to permit the strain transmitted tobe equally dist-rib no uted to the front and back trucks. These springsdo not bear always against the brake beams, but are removed therefromwhen the brakes are not applied a distance equal to the distance betweenthe buffers of two cars.

To hold the outer end of the buffer-rods in proper position they areswung by rods J to the bottom of the car.

In modifying my invention I may not use the spiral i'prrn of springsshown in Fig. l and run thebiifier-rod through guide-plates on thebrake-beams; but I may in some cases run the butl'errod beneath thebrake-beams, as in Fig. 3, and interpose aspring, F of rubber or othermaterial, between the brake-bar and a lag or abutment on saidbufl'enrod. I may also locate the lovers G G between the two pairs ofwheels of each truck, instead of back of the trucks, as shown.

In defining my invention more clearly still, I would state that I do notclaim broadly connecting the short independent buffer-rods by atraction-rod, as 1 am aware that this has been done heretofore by achain and pulley connecting the buffer-rods and the traction-rod, and Iclaim this feature only when the buffer-rods .have a direct bearingagainst the brake-beams nection with a steam-cylinder on the engine,

I may employ any other mechanical means for projecting the buffer-redthat may be found desirable.

Among other advantages of my invention may be mentioned the fact thatits use does not require any alteration of or injury to the commonappliances already in use.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new is 1. In acar-brake in which the brakes are applied by pressure upon a butter-rodtransmitted from the engine, the combination of short buffer-rodsextending through the tracks, the brake-beamshaviug a direct connectionwith the buffer-rods through springs, a traction-rod extending fromtrack to truck for transmitting the movement of one buffer to the other,and levers for connecting the buffer-rods to the traction-rod, as andfor the purpose described.

2. The combination of the brake-beams, the short buffer-rods extendingthrough the trucks and passing through a guide attached to thebrake-beams and having rigid collars a,spiral springs arranged betweenthe collars and the brake-beams, the levers G r, and the tractionrod H,as and for the purpose described.

3. The combination of the brake-beams, the short bufiferrods withcollars a, extending through thetrucks and passingthrough aguideattached to the brake-beams, the springs arranged between the collar aand the brakebeams, thefulcrum-bar I, attached to the truckbeam, thelevers G G, and traction-rod H, substantially as shown and described.

The above specification of my invention signed by me in the presence oftwo subscribiug witnesses.

J. F. SnonMAKEn, EDWD. WV. BYRN.

